Dr. Ahmad Ziaee, newly elected President of the Iranian Volleyball Federation, speaks to the Electoral Assembly in Tehran.

Lausanne, Switzerland, January 3, 2018 - Dr. Ahmad Ziaee has been elected as new president of the Iranian Volleyball Federation following a landslide victory of 43 votes out of 44 cast at the Electoral Assembly of the governing body of the sport held in Tehran just a few days before the turn of the year. He is the 16th president of IRIVF.

President Ziaee has a mandate for the next four years and replaces outgoing IRIVF President Dr. Mohammad Reza Davarzani, who stands down due to his obligations as Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports of Iran. Nonetheless, Dr. Davarzani remains with Iran's volleyball body as a supervisor up to 2020. Dr. Ziaee has been working together with Dr. Davarzani as councillor and vice president for the last 11 years.

Outgoing IRIVF President Davarzani congratulates new President Dr. Ahmad Ziaee following the election.

President Ziaee will continue the development plans of Dr. Davarzani with main focus on the sustainable development of beach volleyball and the Women's National Team of Iran.

"Iran needs a more dynamic league to train high-potential players to be able to take a podium at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan," said Dr. Ziaee in his acceptance speech. "The Iranian Women's National Team is also capable to be among the top four of Asia. To achieve that ultimate goal, there is going to be closer relationships between different committees in the federation mainly bounded with the Education Department."